Italian Pignotti scorches maiden GP victory, VdB, grabs S1.

 

 

 

 

The first round of the FIM Supermoto World Championship, which was also combined with the UEM European Championship, kicked off on Sunday at CASTELLETTO DI BRANDUZZO and there were a few surprises.

Perhaps not so surprising on the hot, sunny Sunday was Thierry Van Den Bosch winning the S1 classs but the fantastic ride by local Attilio Pignotti certainly was amoungst the highlites.

 

S1

 

With the temperature of the asphalt at about 40 degrees Celsius- at Castelletto di Branduzzo; Thierry Van Den Bosch of the Aprilia Off Road Team got two back to back wins, to top the overall in front of Adrien Chareyre of the CH Husqvarna Azzalin Team. His brother and team mate Thomas was third, but both of them battled hard in the second moto. Aprilia Off Road’s Jerome Giraudo finished with a consistent fourth place overall, ahead of HM Giletti Assomotor’s Massimo Beltrami, who was the first home rider.

S1 GRAND PRIX RACE 1

VDB showed his huge motivation right from the start to the race, and lead the pack into turn one. With Thomas and Adrien Chareyre fighting for second, Adrien passed and begun to chase the Aprilia leader, but at half race distance Van Den Bosch opened up a gap and left a very gutsy Chareyre behind in second. The French trio arrived to the chequered flag in front of a consistent Jerome Giraudo, fourth; an injured Eddy Seel raced a stoic moto, and stayed behind Giraudo for eleven laps, until Italian Ivan Lazzarini moved past him. Seel ran wide, and let also Massimo Beltrami and Fabio Balducci overtake him. Lazzarini ended the top five, as other S1 debutant Bernd Hiemer crashed and finished fourteenth.

S1 GRAND PRIX RACE 2

Thomas Chareyre left the crowd breathless with an unexpected holeshot, ahead of Van Den Bosch and Fabio Balducci. Thomas opened up a gap on VDB, but the French veteran closed in, and passed at lap six. Once again VDB showed an impressive pace –today he was the only rider who lapped under the 1:30 barrier- and won the moto, but the Chareyre brothers battled their hardest for the runner up spot. Adrien crossed the finish line in second place, after passing brother Thomas, third. Bernd Hiemer made up for a poor first moto with a fourth place, as Balducci made some mistakes and dropped down to twelfth. Countryman Massimo Beltrami was fifth, after he defended his spot from Lazzarini, Giraudo and Berthome.

 

S2

Attilio Pignotti and KTM Italian Team Miglio celebrated the Italian’s first GP victory; Pignotti did not win a moto, but clinched two solid second places. TM’s Davide Gozzini was impressive in moto one, but had a flat tyre in moto two and scored no points. Belgian Gerald Delepine of the CH Husqvarna Azzalin Team was more consistent and finished second overall. Aprilia Off Road’s Christian Iddon clinched his first moto victory, and completed the podium, ahead of Motoracing’s Slovenian Ales Hlad, fourth. Italian Lorenzo Mariani of MRC Racing ended the top five.

S2 GRAND PRIX RACE 1

Davide Gozzini was unreal in the opening moto, and once he lead the group into turn one, he pulled away with the lead and won the heat. It was a different story for second place, as runner Matt Winstanley crashed out and handed second to Max Verderosa. But the Italian broke the clutch, and lost the second place, that was grasped by Gerald Delepine. The Belgian lost the front in the off road and crashed, then Attilio Pignotti earned the second place and kept it until the chequered flag. Delepine re-joined the race and tried to close in on Pignotti, but it was too late and the Belgian rode to a safe third place. Ales Hlad was fourth, and Robert Baraccani completed the top five. Christian Iddon tangled up with another rider at the start, and finished ninth.

S2 GRAND PRIX RACE 2

Iddon made up for the first moto, and clinched his maiden heat win after an impressive race; once the Brit got the lead at lap four, he ran away to the chequered flag, as Pignotti settled for second. The Italian earned the runner up spot after fighting with early leader Marcel Goetz, who battled also with Gerald Delepine. The two rivals passed each other a few times, then Delepine moved up to third and opened up a gap from Goetz. The Swiss closed in on Delepine, with Hlad following him, but no one passed anyone, and Delepine could ride to an important third place, followed by Goetz and Hlad. Davide Gozzini had a flat tyre, and was out at lap four.

 

IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANGINGS

Thierry Van Den Bosch is now heading the points standings in the S1 class, as Adrien and Thomas Chareyre complete an all French top three. Last year’s runner up Jerome Giraudo is third, but will come back stronger for the following rounds, and so will Massimo Beltrami, now fifth.

37 year old Attilio Pignotti made his dream come true today, and now leads the World Championship points standings of the S2 class. Belgian Gerald Delepine did his best, and is now second, four points behind the Italian. Christian Iddon finally clinched a moto victory, that pushed him to third place. Ales Hlad and Lorenzo Mariani follow the Brit in fourth and fifth place respectively.

UEM-EUROPEAN SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSHIP

In the S3 class, a very fast Elia Sammartin won the opening moto and the event, and now leads the Championship standings. Last year’s runner up Riccardo Peroni started the season with a solid second place, and second moto winner Tommaso Iacoboni completed the podium. Frenchman Baptiste Rheims was fourth overall, ahead of Belgian Olivier Scheen.

In the EC Open class, Czech Petr Vorlicek had a storming start to the season, and topped the overall. Home rider Alessandro Tognaccini was consistent, and was second on the podium. But him, Luca De Angelis –who completed the podium- Uros Nastran and Hein Meusburger were tied in points, with a score of 38 points.

 

WHAT’S NEXT

There is less than a month break, then the FIM and the UEM Supermoto series will restart from Torino. The FIM Supermoto Grand Prix of Torino will be held at night time at the Oval Lingotto, on May 26.

Information and results on http://www.SuperMotoS1.com, the official website of the FIM SuperMoto World Championships.

Fans worldwide can watch this and every race of the 2007 FIM Motocross & SuperMoto World Championships live and on-demand exclusively on The Moto Channel on MediaZone (moto.MediaZone.com). MediaZone is a leading global online broadcaster specialized in sports, entertainment and international programming.

Check out all the top racers who have been doing a bit of Supermoto.

 

 

 

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